Ex-policeman takes age discrimination case to the Supreme Court

A former detective inspector who accuses a Yorkshire police force of age discrimination will take his case to the highest appeal court in the country next year.

Terence Homer was awarded £5,000 in compensation in 2008 after he took West Yorkshire Police to an employment tribunal. But its decision was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal later that year, a verdict upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Mr Homer has now been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, where his case is due to be heard in 2011.

Mr Homer had later worked as a legal adviser in the Police National Legal Database department.

After the force introduced a three-tier career grading programme in 2003, his promotion was blocked because he did not have a law degree.

Mr Homer was then 62 and could not have completed a part-time degree before reaching the normal retirement age of 65. He argued this was indirect age discrimination.

A link to our summary of the Court of Appeal judgment can be found here.